If you’ve been in the insurance and financial services industry at any time in the last 10 years (or more) you know that Social Security marketing has been the bread and butter for many advisors’ marketing whether through workshops, radio, or television. This might make you think that Social Security marketing is dead because you’re sick of hearing about it. We run hundreds of campaigns a month, and our most popular campaign focuses on Social Security optimization, so I can tell you confidently, Social Security marketing is NOT dead.

 

(we are huge Monty Python Fans)

In this post I will dive into the 3 reasons why Social Security marketing isn’t dead, and why it continues to pull in markets all across the country.

Timeliness of the Message

In marketing, one of the biggest keys to reaching your target audience is that your message hits your prospective clients in their emotional center. The way that you do that is by crafting a message that is very tailored to their specific situation.

We live in an age where customization and tailor-made options are what people crave. If you can reach consumers that meet demographic criteria of your ideal client with a message that is very specific to their current situation or a future situation they envision themselves experiencing, then you have a much better chance of your message appealing to them personally.

The first reason Social Security marketing is not dead is timeliness. Because we specifically target people ages 55-64, we’re delivering a Social Security message to the exact audience that’s on the verge of making a claiming decision. We call this audience, pre-retirees, and they are prime candidates for the Social Security message!

Sure, they can claim at 62, and many do, but many people will start researching and even with limited knowledge they know that waiting to claim their benefits can be more beneficial. Most people in this demographic are still working, but they are nearing retirement, so the Social Security message is very timely for them in the overall context of retirement income planning and questions they are likely asking themselves: Will I have enough to retire? When will I retire? How can I make my retirement savings last?

Relevant Messages Feels Customized

In 2018, every service is highly customized. Netflix and Hulu for television and movies, Spotify or Apple Music for music choices, and meal delivery services like HelloFresh or Sun Basket are prime examples of how companies will give customers personalized options based on their interests and previous choices.

Even though we are not marketing to consumers with customized individual messages like Netflix or Spotify, by marketing a very relevant, specific, timely message to customers in the immediate vicinity around your venue, the ad will have a very customized feel to those that see those ads.

Specificity of the Topic

Specificity is a topic we have written a post about in the past, but it bears bringing up again, because it’s ultimately a very big ingredient in a successful Facebook ads campaign (or any marketing campaign for that matter).

One of the biggest mistakes that business owners and marketers make is creating a message that is very broad with multiple topics in the hopes that they can appeal to a number of different types of people.

It makes sense on the surface: you would think a wider message would get more people to your event, because it appeals to more people. The opposite is true. The more specific your message, the more people are going to buy into your message.

The more topics you include into an ad, the more people are either going to be confused about what the event is truly about, or they will see a number of topics that don’t appeal to them, and they will exit out of the landing page and hide or mark your ads as spam, which will make it harder to reach them in the future.

As a financial advisor, you have a lot of different ways you can educate prospects and help them in their specific situation. Ultimately, every clients’ situation is different, and if they book an appointment then you WILL uncover specific issues you can help them with, but your marketing is not an area to use the shotgun approach on. It’s sort of like trying to get married before you’ve even dated. Pump the brakes!

Basically, trying to talk about the plethora of topics and areas you can help them specifically will just give them information overload. According to a University of Texas Study, results show that the preference for a more customized experience comes down to two key factors: desire for control and avoiding information overload. If you overload consumers with all of the different things you can do for them, they get overloaded and will ultimately navigate away from your landing page.

Highlighting all the things you can do might feel like a good way to build authority, a crucial piece to making people trust you, but in the copy of a specific message is not the place to do it. We promote advisors as the go-to expert retirement educator in their area in a few different ways, but talking about all the different things you do isn’t going to “catch you more fish.”